Our friends at Natural Products Canada (NPC) have announced their first investment in a Canadian natural product company. The NPC investment is in Canadian start-up, FireRein Inc.
Natural Products Canada is a Prince Edward Island based member of the network of Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR).
FireRein is a Napanee, Ontario-based company dedicated to providing the firefighting community with effective, innovative and sustainable technology solutions. The company is underpinned by an experienced team that includes firefighters from various backgrounds in urban, rural, industrial and wildland firefighting.
In response to the demands of today’s firefighting professionals, the company has created Eco-Gel™, the world’s first and only 100% bio-sourced and 100% food-grade water additive that when introduced into fire hose water streams creates a potent firefighting gel that “sticks and stays” on any surface and in any orientation.
Eco-Gel is an effective and non-toxic water additive that can “knock down” fires up to 55% faster while using up to 60% less water. Made from bio-renewable, food-grade ingredients, Eco-Gel™ is safe for the firefighter and the environment. The product was developed by a team of firefighters, scientists and business professionals, and early proof-of-concept work was done in collaboration with GreenCentre Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=-7lQ7cQ-mK8
“We are thrilled to contribute to the acceleration of a company that is adding such an important natural product to the market,” Shelley King, CEO of Natural Products Canada told us. “FireRein is a great example of the commercialization potential in Canada’s research and innovation centres.”
The NPC investment program is designed to inject capital into high-potential companies, while de-risking the investment of private investors. In this case, NPC’s investment was leveraged almost three-fold by a group of investors in Southeastern Ontario.
“The investment by NPC was a catalyst for our ability to secure interest and funding from angel and private investors,” said Rui Resendes, FireRein’s CEO. “NPC’s endorsement, coupled with input and advice on the business strategy, was a tremendous asset in helping us raise sufficient capital to scale up production and increase sales.”
Connecting key expertise and resources is central to NPC’s strategy to help Canadian companies commercialize their natural products and technologies faster, cheaper, and more efficiently.
“Canada’s natural product sector is poised to benefit from the growing global demand for healthy and sustainable products,” says NPC Board Chair, Robert Orr. “NPC’s international connections, collaborative approach, and effective mix of advisory services and investment programming, are key tools to help Canadian companies compete on the world stage.”
About Natural Products Canada: NPC is a not-for-profit organization with a vision to make Canada flourish as the Silicon Valley of natural products. It aims to align, expand, and optimize the pan-Canadian natural products ecosystem to accelerate the development of products and technology platforms that bring real value to real customers. NPC was established in 2016, and is funded by a range of public and private investors, including the Government of Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR) program administered by the Networks of Centres of Excellence.